Philips Hue with Richer Colors – A Comparison

Making a great product excellent

When we reviewed Philips’ Hue 2.0 system this summer, we were blown away by its versatility and unbelievable support for almost every platform, but slightly disappointed by the limited color range of its bulbs. Competing products like the LIFX line can produce vibrant shades across the full color spectrum, but the Hue bulbs unexpectedly struggled with greens, light blues, and a few other frequently used tones.

For that reason, I was elated when Philips announced a refreshed bulb lineup for the fall that features what they describe as simply “richer colors.” I was able to get my hands on one early to see if it can improve on what is pretty much the only drawback I found in the Hue system. Do the new bulbs actually make a difference?

YES!

Honestly, they perform so much better that I feel like Philips is making a mistake by highlighting the feature as a footnote (notice the small label on the top of their packaging) rather than rebranding the bulbs entirely. If you use the current Hue White and Color Ambiance bulbs (not the lightstrip plus or other products, which already have a wide color range), you’re familiar with choosing a color on the palette, only to have the app move the selector to a less vibrant shade of that color (due to the bulb’s limitations). With the “richer colors” bulbs, the selector stays on the exact color you chose, giving you a much wider spectrum to choose from.

I could drone on about this, but I figured you’d want to see the difference for yourself as you consider upgrading your own bulbs. Here are some side-by-side comparisons I shot with my iPhone 7; I tried to get the exposure as accurate as possible to what I was seeing with my eyes, but read the descriptions below where I’ll explain the differences.

Red

No difference here; the previous bulbs and richer color bulbs both show rich shades of red.

Pink

No difference here; the previous bulbs and richer color bulbs both show vibrant shades of pink.

Purple

There’s a slight difference here that may not come across in the photos; the purple from the richer colors bulbs is a little less harsh in person.

Blue

Another slight difference; I feel like the blue is a little less dominant in the richer colors bulbs… I actually found it easier on my eyes in person.

Light Blue

This is the first color where the richer colors bulbs start to make a name for themselves. Wheras the previous bulbs appear to be just a cooler shade of white in person, the light blue comes through with the richer colors bulb.

Aqua

Again, the richer color bulbs create a beautiful aqua colored light here, where the previous bulbs just produce an odd shade of white.

Mint

The previous bulbs could barely display any shade of green, so the richer colors bulbs are a revelation here.

Green

It’s hard to tell from these photos, but the richer colors bulbs produce a rich shade of green, wheras “green” is mostly a tone of yellow with the previous bulbs.

Yellow

Neither bulb photographed well here (I think the iPhone is compensating for white balance), but both bulbs produce a nice golden yellow glow.

Orange

Both bulbs produce about the same shade of orange, which is much more vibrant in person than what was photographed here.

Conclusion

The new richer colors Hue bulbs are a huge improvement on their previous bulbs, faithfully reproducing every color I threw their way. To my eyes, the LIFX bulbs still produce slightly more vibrant colors (that can look almost neon to the eyes), but the new Hue bulbs are excellent. If you had any reservations about going all-in on Hue, the new bulbs with richer colors should push you over the edge.

Note: The new bulbs should start making it to store shelves this October (at a new price – $49.99!). To make sure you’re getting the new model, look for the small “Richer Colors” icon in the top right corner of the packaging.

Author

Eric Murrell

Eric is the creator of At Home in the Future and has been a passionate fan of the future since he was seven. He's a web developer by trade, and serves as the Director of Communication and Technology for a large church in Nashville, TN (where he and his family are building a high tech home in the woods).

I am in a similar situation, except I want them shipped to Poland. They are available on Amazon.co.uk and are designated with “richer colours”, but are in short supply at the moment. Amazon.de seems to still carry the old ones unfortunately.

They way to tell them apart is to look for where the metal screw meets the base. Old ones have a plastic ring there, while new are smooth. You could actually point that out in your article Eric, as it took me a while to notice that.

Note that if you paste the UK product code into the German URL you’ll get the page for the new model, including information in German about improved green etc., it’ll just say they are unavailable at the moment.

The best way to tell them apart is the packaging… just look for the “Richer Colors” logo in the top right corner. They’re definitely worth the wait; I feel like there’s literally no drawback to the Hue line now.

Sadly I head to read in an Amazon review, that the new richer color bulbs perform a significant colder “warm white” than the older bulbs.
Unfortunately I’m missing the comparison of the white in your test.